Automatic egg boiler



y 1949- N. DESJARDINS 2,470,548

AUTOMATIC EGG BOILER Filed Feb. 14, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet 1 t AttorneyInventor 0/0? a y 1949. N. DESJARDINS AUTOMATIC EGG BOILER Filed Feb.14, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Attorney 3 i O 1 w 42 2 Im W1 lllllllliMHKWM W 0 ti: 2 5 3 A? .5 7/ 5H! 2 i /u #1 m g May 17, 1949. N.DESJARDINS 2,470,548

AUTOMATIC EGG BOILER Filed Feb. 14, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I (f 7 mInventor JVonZerZflea '4 4 1216 By 6 g 'z Attorneys Patented May 17,1-949 3 Claims.

'fl he present inve tiomrelates to a-time-controlled .mechenism more p rar one iQIb iiihg eggs at ,-pregetermineq period of time b for au omat c"mmQValif fromjthebo i m 1 111 3 .The main objegt of the inventionresides -inthe provision of means of-*the charaeter described s9 des endna ub ass mb ed n cornea-ct hens lei ci t i i r po tab e ab u An, imp rant Q iect e m; th vp ion f t al i u f i z icv ectr e ee boilertemodyine, withsmall po ablee ele l re, av ir plee d u ged me h nism for xbieg "@88 il an e onomical man er A' u h r ob ct 11.te nsMerl-125.5vroiler o he vcharacter eecr eqtc he in qtomat e mea o lh eg s for twoseparately s lec ab d de ust bl periods ofigtiine,

Another object envisages agtgble-egg boiler provided with means; forreduoiug to; a minimum the time. re uired for b u hg the: l ng wate t th.h@ i9 ,po nl- Ast Hif-u the o ectceet mel tes an. g boile which can beproduced iueiggeo sively and out of reas ly rvocu wa l rmatet ms,

Still .aho her obje t.relatesttoee lee boil o .mrtame .charac er emh y emechav11 1, mpleend mo p oot, hata ter lentebl to oper te in seleetivelyindemndeht manne ha o a e formisiu tesesout ofthetboilin m diumobjectsnaod-tadvehtesest 9f. thetinscenti n wil bec me em;eve athesrlescrinti pr xi f h t m ng scremthmusnrhe mo a l timing clock,

2 Figure *8 i is section taken on 1 the 1 line 8-4 of throughout thenumeral l=0 ind-icates the base of the apparatus; which-base is in theform r of a metahstampingkhaviug a; platform I l--a.nd' decer-ztive-eorner legs t2; As --shown-*in -F-igures=2, 4 and *5, the base isadepted to receive an outer rectangularoasir-ig t3,-which casing ismeant'to enclosethe-operatingimechanism of theboiler and. to-support-apair ofwaterwells t4-forrneol therej in at both enqs thereof, each of-sa-id wells formin part-of an independent boiling unit, so that twoindividual egg lots can" be boiledfor difierent times, independently ofeach other.

Each oftthe wells described above'isadapted to receive a, small,quantity ofwater and; in which the, eggs to be boiled are'immersed;The-means 'for holdingithe eggs in said water and'retracting thesame-automatically, aftera given boiling time, consistofebasket-lfiiformed of .wire andthe :li e, and which isof a sizesufiicientto hold three enormalsize eggs, Said basket is supported on avertical movable post 'l6"by means of a suitable bracket l1 securing.said basket to the upper Vendor-the post. As shownto advantage inFigures 4 and '5, the postliis slidably supported within, a bushing .18integrally formed with the 99p uof'the oasir g*l3.aqjacent *the innerside of each well. :Thus, the basket ma be lowered in the water orraised'therefrom according-to the longi u inal move en imp rted to thesaiup "l6.

hchofth said po ts: fiiis, ofe en hsufiicie to reeohthel lett rmworbeseplete ll whenev the basket attached thereto is'lowerecl into itscorresponding -well 'just short of the :bottom r of- -Ther0sts 'tfiflrenorma r ed upwerdlyp y La l ve 2.0,Lthe outer end of whic is p vot dto t e casin ratiz uid'the n end; of w i h engages a cli 'zlrlvet dnorotherwise s ouredto aninterme'diatepoint of the shaft and di osed nd rhe u fiuo d l which s radd es he oute end oftt e' ev s n 'Zienclosewithin a; ubu tasing 26 sup te on theibase plate, .q fi iatesitoact onthe outer end of the lever "20 through the intermediary of a piston 21slidable longitudinal y withinthe housing 2'6; and disposed-to act underthe lever l tosmjgen h am u wa d A h ri i ieures f2, '4 and g 5, 1 thelever :2 lI=-extends through the middle of the housing 26; throughdiametrally aligned slots or apertures 28. The outward movement of thelever 20, under the action of the spring 25, is dampened by means of apiston slidably disposed within the upper part of the housing 26 andurged downwardly by means of a spring 3|. Thus, said piston acts as adash pot to retard the upward movement of the lever by means of the aircompressed therebehind and escaping between said piston and housing.

Inasmuch as the posts l6 are, at all times, urged upwardly, means areprovided to hold the same in downward position, said means including alatch adapted to engage a notch 36 formed in the lower portion of eachpost l6. Consequently, the post and attached basket can be helddownwardly by the latch when depressed sufiiciently by pressing on theknob 38 surmounting the upper end of the post. Since the latch 35 formspart of a mechanism to be described fully later on, further referencewill be made thereto when said mechanism is disclosed. Each of the postsI6 is provided with an arm 45, the outer end of which carries aninsulated plate 4| supporting electric contacts 52 connectedelectrically together; the purpose of those contacts is to bridgesimilar contacts 43 supported by an insulating member 44 disposed on thebase plate H, the contacts 43 being electrically connected in anelectric circuit to be described further on.

This electric circuit includes a synchronous electric motor 56 and apair of electric heating elements 5|, each of said elements beingassociated with the bottom of one well M for the purpose of heating tothe boiling point the quantity of water in said well. The position ofthe heating elements is shown in Figures 2, 4 and 5, and the connectionsthereof in Fig. 9, wherein it will be seen that the motor 50 isconnected in parallel with the power line 52 as well as the heaters 51which, however, can be placed in and out of circuit by the switchingmember 4|.

The mechanism described so far is operable to lower a number of eggsinto a boiling medium and to connect to an electric current source aheater capable of bringing said medium to the boiling point. The eggretaining means are held in lowered position by means of a latch andwill continue to be so held until the said latch has been tripped.Automatic means for tripping the latch after a certain time has elapsedis embodied in the egg boiler of the invention and is shown moreparticularly in Figures 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

The actuating means for the timing device consist of the synchronousmotor 55 already described and which is designed to revolve very slowlysuch as, for example, one revolution per minute. The said motor isconnected to and actuates a lead screw 54 having rather coarse threads55 and which screw is rotatably supported in a frame embodying a base55, a back vertical wall 57 and a front wall 58; the screw is moreparticularly journaled between said walls in an aperture of wall 5'! andto the end of a threaded stud 59 threadedly secured to the front wall 58(see Fig. 6). The screw is connected to the motor 50, as previouslydisclosed, and the connection may include an extension 6i of the screwengaging the shaft 6! of the motor and pinned thereto at 62. Thus, thescrew is adapted to revolve in unison with the motor and at the speedthereof.

On each side of the lead screw, and parallel to the longitudinal axisthereof, a pair of parallel rods 65 are disposed between the walls 51and 58, which rods provide a support for an apertured block 66 in whichthe rods 65 are disposed and which block is accordingly slidablethereover, longitudinally of the screw and parallel therewith.

Each of the blocks 66 carries an arm 61 which is disposed in a slot 68of the block and extends outwardly therefrom so that the end thereof isadapted to engage one thread of the lead screw 54. The said arm issecured by a pin 69 to a shaft 10 inserted in a bore 'H of the slotabove and parallel to the support rods 65. Each of the shafts I0 isconnected at its outer end with a larger tubular indicating member 13,which is meant to extend out of the casing through suitable bushings l5and which member carries suitable indications 16 corresponding to theboiling time in minutes. For manipulating purposes, the end of saidmember is provided with an operating knob or handle ll. Finally, eachblock 66 is provided with an extension pin 18 projecting from the outerside of the block and adapted to engage the upper end of the latch 35for tripping said latch against the action of a spring 19 urging thesaid latch into engaging position with the notch 36 of the post E5. Asshown to advantage in Figure '7, the latch 35 is pivoted to a pin whichin turn is secured to an upturned extension 8| of the frame base 56.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that whenever thelead screw 54 is rotated the motor 58, the block 66 on each side thereofwill be longitudinally moved as the end of the lever ii? is displacedlongitudinally by the action of the screw threads. Consequently, thelatch 35 will be disengaged from the notch 36 by the pin "l8 wheneversaid lever 6'! has reached its extreme end position on the screw, justbefore being disengaged therefrom onto the smooth reduced shoulder 63,where it remains until manually re-engaged with the screw for anothertiming operation (see Fig. 3). Therefore, the time required for a lever51 to travel from one end of the lead screw to the other is a verydefinite interval which is a function of the thread size and speed ofthe motor.

In order to vary at will this interval of time, the lever can be liftedfrom engagement with the screw by turning the knob 'l'i slightly so asto actuate the lever out of engagement with the screw, sliding the blocklongitudinally over the rod 65 and replacing the same in engagement withthe proper thread according to the indication marked on the stem of themember 13. Thus, after this interval of time has elapsed, the latch 35will be tripped and the post 15 allowed to move upwardly, therebyraising out of the boiling medium the eggs disposed in the basket l5. Inother words, the closer to the wall 51 the lever ii'i is engaged withthe screw thread, the shorter will be the time required to trip thelatch.

In operation, a quantity of water determined by experiment is disposedin each of the wells M and up to three eggs inserted in the basket l5.The posts l6 are then pushed down and latched, which motion willimmediately cause the heating action of the element 5!, whereby thewater will be brought to a boil. Thereafter, each knob 11 can bemanipulated according to the indication on the stem 73, so as to causeraising of the corresponding basket at the end of the time chosen andindicated on said stem '13. Of course, since the Water in the well isnot brought instantaneously to the boiling point, it might be necessaryto compensate slightly for this delay by increasing the time that theeggs are left in the well.

At any event, due to the very small quantity of liquid needed, this timeis rather short and, in most cases, can be disregarded.

From the foregoing description, it should be evident that the presentinvention is a most useful advance of the art, in that it enables theboiling of eggs for predetermined times in a very simple and foolproofmanner by means of a mechanism which is rugged and extremely simple.Furthermore, due to the specific construction and characteristics of theinvention, the said boiler is readily portable and may be disposed onthe breakfast or dinner table as readily as the common electric toaster,percolator, hot plate or the like.

It must be understood that various changes as to the shape, size andarrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A portable, automatic egg-boiler comprising, in combination, a waterwell, means for heating the water, an egg-holding basket lowerable intothe water, a spring urging said basket upward and a latch for retainingsaid basket in lowered position, a threaded lead screw constantlyrotated and held against longitudinal movement, a block slidableparallel to said screw and adapted to trip the latch, an extension armpivoted to said block and engageable with the screw threads so as to bepropelled by the screw, and means for selectively engaging the arm withthe screw at preselected points therealong corresponding to timeintervals required by the block to reach the latch tripping position,said screw being unthreaded at this position.

2. A portable automatic egg-boiler comprising, in combination, a pair ofwater wells and a pair of egg-holding baskets immersible therein, meansfor heating the water in the wells, springs adapted to urge each of saidbaskets independently out of said wells and latches adapted to hold samein immersed position, a threaded lead screw constantly rotated betweensaid wells and held against longitudinal movement, a pair of blocksslidable parallel to the screw adjacent each side thereof, and eachadapted to trip one of said latches, an arm pivoted to each blockengageable with the screw threads on one side of the latter and adaptedto be longitudinally displaced thereby, and means for selectivelyengaging each of said arms independently with the screw at preselectedpoints therealong corresponding to the time intervals required by theblocks to reach latch-tripping position, said screw being unthreaded atthis position.

3. In an egg-boiler as claimed in claim 2, said arm-engaging meanscomprising a rotatable and longitudinally slidable rod adapted to pivotwith said arm and slide with said block.

NORBERT DESJARDINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,091,486 Cutler Mar. 31, 19141,167,947 Spitz et a1 -1 Jan. 11, 1916 1,977,454 Price Oct. 16, 19342,359,580 Poole Oct. 3, 1944 2,372,978 Pelenberg Apr. 3, 1945

